


Sorry, I was aiming for the heart

by MorganBartonRomanoff



Series: Avengers Bingo 2020 [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 3 + 1, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Happy Tony Stark, Iron Fam, Irondad, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Tony Stark Has A Heart, avengersbingo, nose kisses, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22335685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorganBartonRomanoff/pseuds/MorganBartonRomanoff
Summary: Three times Tony missed (and one time it was intentional).Part Two of my Avengers Bingo; Square filled - Nose Kisses
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Avengers Bingo 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600987
Comments: 12
Kudos: 68





	Sorry, I was aiming for the heart

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Avengers Bingo 2020 by [avengersbingo](https://avengersbingo.tumblr.com)

1.

The first time Tony missed, Pepper laughed at him and waved it off.

He barged into her office on a Thursday evening, a pout tugging on his lips and ready to swing her over his shoulder and drag her home kicking and screaming if he had to. His stride slowed when he took in account how intensely she was glaring at the StarkPad in her hand, a glass of white wine already perched on the coffee table in front of the sofa she was stretched out on with her stilettos kicked off.

He lifted her feet to make room for himself and then put them in his lap, rubbing her soles. He didn’t say anything.

After a while, she heaved a deep sigh and flung an arm over her eyes, throwing her head back and letting the StarkPad drop on the armrest.

“So how about we go home now?” Tony broke the silence. Pepper shook her head.

“Can’t. I need to look through the rest of these reports today and go over all of our meetings for tomorrow.” Tony shifted his body to face her and rested a palm on her calf.

“Don’t you have a personal assistant for this? Do I need to call miss Rushman and beg her to come back because my fiancée can’t get a breath of air without her priceless aid?” He was only half-joking. Pepper had been spending more and more late evenings at her office to the point of him suspecting her of avoiding him. That was one reason for his interruption mere minutes ago. The other was that he actually did want to go home, with her, preferably. But after he’d seen how tired she looked and how tense and exhausted her body felt next to his, he’d decided to stop being a selfish idiot and help her however he could, so they’d finally be able to go snooze in front of the TV with takeout.

She kept telling him to take breaks whenever he went on a lab streak but she was the one who kept overworking herself, trying to carry the entire company on her back, even though he was r _ight there_ , tinkering with scraps of metal all day. She knew he’d do whatever she said, yet she only used her influence over him only when necessary. He couldn’t help but be grateful and love her more for that, but he also hated that she kept putting so much pressure on herself.

Pepper levelled him with a look and picked up the offensive piece of technology again.

“You know I don’t let anyone mess with my schedule, Tony.” He groaned dramatically, leaning carefully across her legs to get closer to her.

“I know, Pep, but come on. It’s past nine. There’s no one left in the building except for night-shift security and us. We both know you can do this from our living room.”

“Yes, but I don’t want to work at home. That’s the whole point of going home, not having to work there. Otherwise, I could just move in here, if you’d like.” Her tone had acquired a sharp edge, daring him to contradict her. He pursed his lips and leaned to his side into the back of the couch.

“Okay, okay, you’re right when you’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

“I know.”

He leaned to kiss her just as she was turning her head, startling her into jerking her face back in his direction, albeit a bit miscalculated.

He ended up smacking his lips to her nose, the two of them exchanging a surprised look before Pepper laughed at him. He smiled at her, eyes softening into melted chocolate.

With a final shake of her head, she brought her feet to the ground and locked the tablet. She gathered her shoes and offered Tony a hand.

“Fine, let’s go home.”

2.

The second time Tony missed, Rhodey didn't agree to never mention it again.

They’d been sitting in a press-conference at the Facility for the most part of the morning, struggling to steer the journalists’ questions in the proper direction. Pesky little things had the terrible habit of invading privacy and losing focus from the topic at hand in order to squeeze something juicy out of anyone they could get their hands on. They particularly enjoyed meddling in Tony’s personal life, as if he were at the centre of a reality show.

_Have you set a date for the wedding?_

_Does Miss Potts let you bring the suit to the bedroom?_

_Have you thought about having kids yet?_

_Is it true Spider-man is your illegitimate child?_

Honestly, the lengths they were willing to reach were astounding. He never answered these. (Yes, no, kinda, only in Tony’s dreams.) That’s why Rhodey was there. To help him keep his tongue behind his teeth, as hard as it was sometimes.

Tony wasn’t even sure what this conference was about at that point. It was either the new reactor they would be launching in LA next month or the development around the Sokovia Accords. In any case, the topic shifted so often between these two that it could have been any or both of them.

It went on for three hours longer than planned, not that Tony had anywhere else to be. Definitely not in his lab, working on improving the nano-tech version of his suit or anything. Nope, Pepper had been crystal clear, he was to stay there and answer their _relevant_ questions as long as they had any. And, boy, did they have any.

Tony had tried, he had really tried to pay attention to everything, but when boring became tedious, he tended to just… space out. Like any normal human being. This had led to Rhodey having to take over the entire conference for a good half an hour until Tony felt in condition to join the conversation again.

He was aware that his attitude wouldn’t go unpunished but he was hoping Pepper would be benevolent.

And now that it was all finally over and he could breathe outside of the prison of that conference room, he was starting to worry. Had he slipped anywhere? Surely Rhodey would have let him know with a glare and a kick to the shin. Had he spaced out for too long? Had it left them too much of an impression? Was he now written down in the yellow press as _Tony Stark, the man-child owner of the biggest corporation in existence and Earth’s best defender who couldn’t bring himself to care for the rest of the world_? It hadn’t been that bad, at least in his opinion.

He and Rhodey were currently headed to the Stark apartment, completely done with socialising for the day. Tony was deep in worries when his friend’s arm stopped him from going any further. The floor-length windows looked out to the wide parking lot slowly draining of broadcast vans and company cars. The mirrored glass wouldn’t allow outsiders to have even the slightest idea of what was going on the other side, just as designed, so the two of them could stay there and sneer at the reporters as much as they liked without being disturbed, seeing as this was a relatively private hallway as well.

“You almost screwed things over in there,” Rhodey began.

“Yeah, I know. You took care of it, though.”

“And thank God I did, or Pep would have had both of our heads within ten minutes.”

They stood there in silence for a few moments, eyes trained on the slowest of the television employees.

“How did you do it, by the way? Save my ass?” Rhodey chuckled and looked at his best friend.

“I told them that’s your thinking face and that you were probably visiting Geniusland, you know, getting another brilliant idea that would save the world,” he grinned. “So don’t be surprised if you see your dumb, blank, spaced out head plastered all over the newspaper stands and the internet with a big, bold, red question whether you’ve found salvation from the greenhouse effect.”

Tony laughed, slapping a hand to Rhodey’s back in affection.

“Hey, now. I might be close to the solution, you never know.” He squeezed his friend’s shoulder and looked at his profile. The other man had an annoyed look on his face, still staring out the window, though a small smile tugged at his lips. “Thanks, Rhodey, you’re the best.”

There wasn’t a person who’d been by his side for as long as Rhodey had been, who’d seen him at his worst, at his weakest, and yet picked him up every time and helped him stand on his feet by himself. No one who’d known him as long as Rhodey and stayed, despite Tony’s self-destructive tendencies.

Without giving it much thought, he leaned over to kiss his cheek. Rhodey’s peripheral sight, however, was too well-trained to be underestimated as Tony had done, and so the two ended up with Tony’s lips planted on Rhodey’s nose.

They both blinked a few times following the startled stammering of one billionaire, and then Rhodey had cleared his throat and started saying something. Tony interrupted him, shoving both hands in the pockets of his pants.

“We don’t have to talk about this. Ever.” Rhodey nodded, a grin stretching out his face in anticipation of the opportunity to never let Tony hear the end of it.

“Yeah, Tones, but suppressing your feelings is unhealthy. Tell me, does Pepper know?”

Tony rolled his eyes, bumping his shoulder in Rhodey’s.

“Shut up, Rhodes,” he muttered, steering his friend back in their previous direction. His answer was Rhodey’s throaty laughter as he followed him.

Then he was glued to Tony’s side, smooshing his face as he smacked a wet and loud kiss to his temple.

“I love you too, Tones.”

3.

The kid was over for his actual internship, with actual paperwork and actual tasks, never mind that Tony rarely ever made him do something he didn’t want to, aside from his English homework. 

Every Wednesday and Friday afternoon, Peter would come over and mess around in the lab with Tony. Occasionally, if May was working a night shift, he was allowed to stay over in a guest room right across from the master bedroom, which he’d gradually personalised into his own space. 

At some point, they’d switched from improving the web fluid formula to taking a break in front of the huge living room screen currently streaming _A New Hope_ , surrounded by multiple packs of dried fruit and a bucket-sized bowl of popcorn. Tony had called May ahead, completely aware of the outcome that was to follow movie night after an especially exhausting week.

She’d relented, but he’d had to reassure her that Happy would be more than glad to drive the kid back home in the morning. (Happy would have done so regardless. Despite everything he said, he had as big a soft spot for the Spider-baby as anyone else.)

Peter dropped like a leaf the moment the intro started rolling with Tony following closely behind.

The man woke up to find his kid leaning his head on his shoulder, curly hair pressed to Tony’s cheek. The end credits were almost over and FRIDAY had dimmed the lights and the sound coming off the TV.

Tony shifted his head to look down at Peter. This child who overworked himself every day and every night, who cared so deeply for everyone around him, even if they didn’t deserve it. This tiny human who carried the strength of an army in his little finger and the weight of the world on his shoulders, completely ignoring the fact that he neither had to do this, nor did he actually need to. There were people far more suitable for that line of work.

The thought that Peter put his life at risk constantly, made Tony’s blood curdle in his veins. The damn kid had no sense of self-preservation and Tony swore that one day his heart would just give in and stop working completely.

He was so smart and witty, excited about everything, all the time. He had a light in him Tony had never possessed himself and so had sworn to do everything in his power to keep Peter safe. Healthy. Happy.

Pepper liked to tease him that he was becoming a dad sooner than planned. Tony usually laughed it off but on the inside he knew she was somewhat right. Somewhat. He wasn’t _becoming_ a father to Peter because he already felt like Peter was his own flesh and blood.

Sometimes it was easy to forget he wasn’t.

It was easy to forget that Tony didn’t have any rights over Peter’s decision and future, he didn’t have the rights to expect of him to share what was on his mind or to ask for more of his time or attention.

It was easy to forget that Peter didn’t look like him. That despite all their similarities and that inexplicable connection they had, they didn’t actually share any genes.

It was easy to forget that all he had a say in was Peter’s after-class web-slinging hobby.

In moments like these, quiet, peaceful, domestic, Tony forgot.

He shifted, feeling out the kinks in his neck carefully as to not disturb the sleeping vigilante next to him who needed the extra energy more than he needed his suit.

When Tony moved forward, his brain was obviously still asleep. He never would have done something like that if he’d been more awake, with caffeine pumping through his heart.

Tony was aiming for Peter’s forehead. An impulsive urge of affection. But Peter’s head keeled backwards, a mall snore escaping his mouth, and his nose ended up in the designated space beneath Tony’s lips.

The billionaire jerked back, annoyance flashing across his face. Somehow this kept happening. With a sigh, he snuggled down next to his intern again and forced his lids to stay closed.

The darkness and Peter’s warmth lulled him right back to sleep.

+1

The first time it was intentional, Morgan was crying.

Pepper’s pregnancy passed uneventful, the nursery was done and awaiting its new inhabitant and both parents felt more excited than anxious. Or at least that’s what they wanted the other one to think. In reality, they were both terrified.

Pepper’s worries were of the perfectly normal kind, according to Tony whenever he spoke to Rhodey. She’d wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat from nightmares where their little angel was sick, or stillborn, or, on one occasion, possessed a perfectly trimmed goatee, as weird as it sounded. Tony did his best to reassure her without being dismissive. He wasn’t.

He just had anxieties of his own.

Tony had never had his father’s presence in his life. Well, he’d had the judgement and the disregard and the condescending, but never anything that mattered. He knew he should be glad he’d at least had Jarvis, but it was different. No matter how much Tony had loved him and he had loved and taken care of Tony, they’d both known that they were too far off the truth.

Tony wasn’t worried that he wouldn’t love his child like his father hadn’t loved him. He was already in love. But he couldn’t help but fear that he wouldn’t be gentle enough, or responsible enough, or expressive enough. He was worried that once the little bub was born, he’d turn into Howard, no matter how much he told himself that he was different, no matter how hard he _tried_ to be different.

Caring for Peter was different. He was already a teenager, someone else had done the hard work of raising him and aside from being infuriatingly and self-destructively selfless, the kid had turned out _great_. (Though Tony sometimes wondered if the spider bite had anything to do with his anxiety or if that was already there from all those times he’d lost people he loved. Then Tony just swore to himself he’d keep it from getting worse.)

Peter was… grown-up was putting it strongly. He wasn’t quite there yet, but he wasn’t a helpless baby either. He was interesting and could carry an intelligent conversation. A baby could only cry and coo. What if Tony lost interest? What if he was a disappointment of a father?

In the last few weeks before the doomsday, his sleeping patterns took a turn for the worse. Insomnia clutched at his brain and nightmares lurked in the shadows of the small hours of the night. Peace of mind had never seemed so far away. Yet still, somehow, he managed to keep up the pretence in front of Pepper.

(No, he didn’t. She saw right through his shit. She cornered him one day and told him that he was a better man than his father had been at any point in his life. And that she couldn’t imagine having that child with anyone else. She then pressed her palm to his heart and told him she loved him. It took him a while to figure it out. Eventually, he did, and since then he kept repeating to himself every morning all the names that mattered most. One came back circling in his head again and again. Morgan. Morgan. Morgan.)

The day all hell broke lose Pepper was reading in bed, because Tony wouldn’t allow her to stay on her feet for longer than five minutes.

_What if the baby falls out?_

_You have three PhD’s, Tony, you know perfectly well the baby isn’t going to just fall out._

She was right but he swore to only spend an hour at the lab every day that week and put her in the uncomfortable position of having to reluctantly agree for the (his) greater good.

Tony was making their dinner when she yelled for him. At first he thought she might want some more tea but then she just stared at him for thirty seconds while he waited at the doorway for her to say something.

She finally pointed to the bag they had packed weeks ago that now waited patiently in an armchair, and Tony’s brain short-circuited.

Everything happened in a haze and it was either the burning hot excitement, or the numbingly freezing panic’s fault. Pepper made Happy drive them to the hospital, all the while managing to keep both Tony and herself calm. He had to give it to her, she was taking this much better than him.

And when they finally got there, they were told to _wait_. Tony would have caused a scene if it wasn’t for Pepper’s grip on his forearm during a particularly painful contraction and a hissed out “ _it’s normal_ ”. He couldn’t see how pushing a living human being out of one’s body and having to wait to get it over with was “normal” but then thought better of it and decided not to argue with the woman currently doing that.

So he sat on his ass and held her hand and _waited_.

Two hours and seventeen minutes later, they took her away and told him it would be better if he waited outside. _Outside_ , while his wife gave birth to their child, alone and in pain. He was just about to go off when an excited “Mr. Stark!” grabbed his attention.

Peter and May were carrying a handful of purple balloons and a bouquet of spring flowers with them. The kid’s grin was more blinding than the fluorescent lighting of the hospital. He bounded over and body-slammed into Tony, wrapping his arms around him in a careful tight hug,

Rhodey came next a few minutes later with a small cream teddy bear and a care package.

Happy had disappeared at one point and returned with a tray of coffee cups and an Iron Man balloon trailing after him.

When the doctor came out, Tony nearly spilled his coffee all over himself. He was on his feet in an instant, vibrating with emotions.

“Congratulations,” the doctor said. “You have a beautiful healthy girl.”

Tony could have cried in relief right then and there. Pepper was okay, the baby was okay, and goatee-less, he was willing to bet, and he was going to spoil her until she no longer knew what “need” was. Then he decided that would be bad parenting and he’d be happy to just have his baby girl in his arms already.

When he saw Pepper cradling the small wailing bundle in her arms, exhausted and disheveled, he couldn’t remember a time she’d been more beautiful than in that exact moment.

She was smiling softly at the tiny creature with lungs bigger than the Earth like there was nothing else in the world she could care about. _There isn’t_ , Tony thought.

When he took Morgan in his arms, he was terrified he was holding her wrong. He was terrified he would drop this feather-light angel and cause the end of the world. He couldn’t take his eyes off her wrinkled pink face and scrunched eyes. He couldn’t hear anyone else, just her, only her. His little girl.

He leaned down and kissed her tiny nose, as gently as he could, butterfly touches. Then again, and again. He spoke to her, and it was like she heard him, like she understood him. She stopped crying. Tony chuckled, fully aware she already had him wrapped around her tiny little finger. He didn’t mind that at all.

Every time she cried, he would kiss her button nose and make her laugh.

Every time she fell, he would kiss her button nose and pick her up, and promise her she’d be alright.

Every time she was sick, he would kiss her button nose and feed her chicken soup.

Every morning and every night, he would kiss her button nose and tell her he loved her.

Every breathing moment, he would keep her in his heart, safe and sound.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr: [ohwriteiforgot](https://ohwriteiforgot.tumblr.com)
> 
> Your comments make my day, so please do leave more of them! Thank you!


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